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My favorite thing about this article is the fact that they emphasize the fact that math is not just about numbers. I fully believe that math can be learned by everyone, and that sometimes kids seem to downplay the importance of it, or think they are too dumb to understand it. One of the main points that this article makes, is teaching math in a variety of ways. Rather than just talking about negative and positive numbers, relate it to money or objects and watch as the students begin to understand it better. When kids especially can relate numbers to physical objects, they have a better chance at remembering how things work.
Math is definitely a subject that continues to build on top of itself. If something small is misunderstood or not fully grasped, it can cause the students to have less confidence in the future because they are going to have even more trouble understanding the new material. Math is definitely a hard subject, but it is important that teachers do not allow their students to feel defeated. Another important thing that we can do as a teacher is never assume that students know something, or have prior knowledge of a topic or strategy. I struggled in my sophomore year college math class because my teacher assumed we all had past knowledge of the content. If we continue moving forward with content that students do not fully comprehend, it is only leading closer to a breakdown and more misunderstandings.
I think that it is important for teachers to read this article so that they can get some tips about handling math strategies in the classroom and understanding it is not going to be easy for everyone.
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Lisa, I completely agree with you, and I think the resource that you pulled is very helpful for math teachers when they are trying to determine how to develop their teaching style. I have found that a question of mine has been how to develop a style that is beneficial to the students who are excelling and those that are having trouble, and I believe your resource has been super helpful for me when thinking about this. As we have seen, students literacy is a big make-or-break area for all subjects, but like you mentioned, math is a difficult subject for most students. As future math teachers it is so important to recognize this and position ourselves with resources and knowledge to encourage and aid our students' success. Thanks so much for sharing this resource with us! I liked it a lot!
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